Linking field management, soil health, and edge-of-field water quality in GLRI priority watersheds

Session: Soil Health: Role on Nutrient Losses from Agricultural Soils (2)

Kevin Fermanich, UW - Green Bay and UW-Extension, [email protected]
Molly Meyers, UW-Green Bay, [email protected]
Gregory Lawrence, U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected]
Matthew Komiskey, U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected]
Mathew Dornbush, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, [email protected]
Ron Turco, Purdue University, [email protected]
Marianne Bischoff Gray, Purdue University, [email protected]
Lisa Duriancik, Natural Resources Conservation Service, [email protected]

Abstract

In 2012, the USGS, NRCS and local partners began monitoring sediment and nutrient runoff from select farm fields in phosphorus priority watersheds of the Great Lakes.  The aim of the monitoring is to document the impacts of improved cropland strategies on reducing downstream nutrient and sediment loads.  Soil health assessments were added in 2016.  Soil health is a unifying concept being embraced by agricultural producers and conservation professionals as a pathway to reduce excessive sediment and nutrient losses, while also sustaining yields and economic productivity of working lands. The health of a soil is a function of biological, chemical and physical properties.  We are measuring key soil health parameters (e.g. OM, C, N, WEP, Bray P; microbial biomass, diversity, and activity; bulk density, aggregates, water holding capacity, texture, and infiltration) at 14 edge-of-field (EoF) monitoring sites located in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and New York.  Our goal is to connect field-scale management and soil health with the water quality leaving EoF fields.  This work focuses on the pre-establishment and early post-establishment phases of BMP implementation.  Initial results show that cropping system and management history have strong influences on observed soil health and EoF water quality across the sites.